Gov. Pete Wilson, attending the groundbreaking in Orange County of the nation's first privately owned and operated toll lanes in 50 years, called for expansion of the private road concept throughout the state. "We will continue to seek partners for similar projects," Wilson said at a sand-and-shovel ceremony in Yorba Regional Park, alongside the crowded Riverside Freeway.

When state transportation authorities unveiled plans last year for a privately built, four-lane toll road down the center median of the Riverside Freeway, the idea offered a tantalizing promise. For a dollar or two, motorists could buy blessed relief from bumper-to-bumper conditions found each day on the freeway, one of the nation's most crowded. But in the months since, the $88.3-million project on California 91 in Orange County has been beset by pitfalls and problems.

When state transportation authorities unveiled plans last year for a privately built, four-lane toll road down the Riverside Freeway median, the idea offered a tantalizing promise. For a dollar or two, motorists could find blessed relief from bumper-to-bumper conditions prevailing each day on the freeway, one of the nation's most crowded. But in the months since, the $88.3-million project on California 91 has been beset by pitfalls and problems.

Under brilliant sunshine that refused to call it a summer, Orange County residents celebrated their Labor Day respite on Monday the best way they know how: with beach chairs and barbecues. Yet while it was casual and leisurely in back yards and at the ocean, there was a harsh dose of holiday mayhem on streets and freeways. Police reported that a car crash in Orange early Monday killed a Huntington Beach woman and injured three other people, including a 3-year-old girl.

A 10-mile tollway planned for the median strip of the Riverside Freeway lurched closer to reality as state transportation officials hammered out a final contract with a company that wants to build the expressway, authorities said Thursday.

A tanker carrying 8,000 gallons of gasoline burst into flames Monday night on the Riverside Freeway, shutting down all lanes in both directions and sending flames and smoke visible for 15 miles. "It is just a huge wall of fire on the highway," a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said as the fire raged. The fire started when the tanks fell free from the Mobil gasoline truck as the driver went east near the Lakeview Avenue offramp at 8:11 p.m.

Seeking to help commuters facing gridlock each day on the Riverside Freeway, state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) on Wednesday proposed negotiations among state and local transportation officials and the owners of private toll lanes built along the freeway median. Dunn offered to serve as mediator to reach a compromise giving Caltrans freedom to improve a snarled stretch of the Riverside Freeway near the border of Orange and Riverside counties.

An Anaheim assemblyman announced Monday that he will carry legislation to help Orange County's transportation agency buy the 91 Express Lanes--a privately owned tollway whose franchise agreement with the state has blocked major improvements to the congested Riverside Freeway. Meanwhile, the Transportation Authority's board of directors unanimously approved adding express bus service along the Riverside Freeway to provide Inland Empire commuters an alternative to their cars during rush hour.

Before dawn, the first commuters hurtle through Corona's streets at speeds of up to 75 mph. As rush hour builds, gridlock sets in, jamming the city's main thoroughfares with motorists, many of them out-of-towners taking shortcuts to bypass the congested Riverside Freeway as they head to their jobs in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Sometimes the morning traffic is so bad, Leo Arroyo says he can't even get out of his own driveway.

Another lane improvement on the Riverside Freeway is easing commute times during the morning rush hour for motorists from the Inland Empire, Orange County transportation officials said Monday. The $350,000 restriping project added a westbound lane along 2.1 miles of pavement from the Corona Expressway in Corona to the Orange County line. The lane, which opened just before the weekend, connects with a $6.7-million lane addition that opened on the Riverside Freeway in late February.